Search This Blog

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

June 12, 1994

It's
Tuesday, June 12, 2012, and it's the day where we step back in time
once more. And this time, we're going to flash back to a moment in
time where a heinous crime took place. And with that crime came one
of the biggest media circuses ever to grace televisions and magazines
all over the world.

But,
of course, before we pick the date we're flashing back to,we always
have to take a look at some of the other events that took place in
history. So, let's have a look at the happenings of June 12,
beginning with celebrity birthdates.

1996
– In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a panel of federal judges blocks a
law against indecency on the internet

1997
– Queen Elizabeth II reopens Globe Theatre in London

2000
– Sandro Rosa do Nascimento takes hostages during a bus robbery in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; ends with death of do Nascimento and one
hostage

2001
– Robert Edward Dyer sentenced to 16 years in jail for his attempt
to extort money from a supermarket chain through a letter bomb
campaign

So,
as you can see, June 12 is a date that had a lot of happenings. And
for some odd reason, June 12 seems to be linked to a lot of criminal
activity and trials. Therefore, it seems only fitting that the date
we're flashing back to also has that link.

Today
we are going back to June 12, 1994.

June
12, 1994 was quite a busy day in history. It was the date that the
Boeing 777 made its first flight, and it was the date that we lost
actor/comedian Christopher Collins. But it was also the date that a
brutal double murder took place in the city of Los Angeles. That was
horrible enough. But when you take into account that the accused was
a famous football star, that made the situation all that much worse.
The result was a trial that seemed to never end, and once it did,
left a lot of people with a bad taste in their mouths.

On
June 12, 1994, 35-year-old Nicole Brown Simpson, and 25-year-old
Ronald Goldman were found stabbed to death outside of Brown Simpson's
Brentwood condominium just shortly after midnight. An investigation
was launched into who could have committed the murders, and
immediately one suspect came to mind.

Orenthal
James Simpson...better known as O.J. Simpson, former player of the
Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, who would later partake in an
acting career, landing roles in Roots, the Naked Gun trilogy, and
having several endorsement deals throughout the 1980s and early
1990s. Who would have ever guessed that just fifteen years after
retiring from the NFL, he would find himself as the prime suspect in
one of the biggest murder trials of the decade...maybe even perhaps
of the century.

Before
we get to that, why don't we take a look back at what happened before
the murders took place?

Nicole
Brown Simpson was once married to O.J. Simpson. They had met each
other in 1977 while she was working as a waitress at a Beverly Hills
nightclub. The relationship immediately heated up, even though
Simpson himself was still married to his first wife, Marguerite, at
the time. The couple married each other in February 1985, and
together they had two children, Sydney and Justin. The couple stayed
married for the next seven years, but it became clear that the
marriage was not a match made in heaven. In 1989, O.J. Simpson
pleaded no contest to spousal abuse, indicating that he had
physically hurt Nicole on a number of occasions during their
marriage. The couple split up, and Nicole filed for divorce in
February 1992, citing irreconcilable differences as the main reason.

By
1994, Nicole Brown Simpson had moved on with her life. She had
turned 35 on May 19 of that year, and she was looking forward to the
future. On the last night of her life, Nicole ate dinner with her
family at Mezzaluna restaurant, where Ronald Goldman worked as a
waiter. After the dinner ended, Nicole went home, but ended up
forgetting her glasses at the restaurant. After Nicole's mother
phoned the restaurant to inquire about the glasses, the manager of
the restaurant found them, put them inside a white envelope, and
Ronald Goldman volunteered to return the glasses to Nicole, since he
knew her already.

It
would be the last time that Nicole and Ron were seen alive.

At
the crime scene, investigators collected the evidence, which
according to them pointed the finger of blame squarely on Simpson.
After all, Simpson did have a history of abusing his ex-wife during
their marriage, and investigators believed that they had enough
forensic evidence to convict Simpson of the double murder.

Five
days later, on June 17, lawyers convinced the LAPD to allow Simpson
to turn himself in by eleven o'clock in the morning. The charges
were serious. If Simpson were convicted, he would be condemned to
death within the prison system, but his lawyers believed that if
Simpson voluntarily turned himself in, it would look better for him.
But as we well know by now, Simpson didn't show up, and by two in the
afternoon, a warrant was sworn out for his arrest. Three hours
later, Simpson's friend and lawyer, Robert Kardashian (and yes, he
was the father of Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney) read a note from Simpson
that some interpreted as a suicide note. The search for Simpson
intensified with reporters joining the police in hopes of finding
him.

It
wouldn't be until 6:20pm that Simpson would be located, and it would
be this sighting that would kick off the ensuing media circus that
would take over the world for a year and a half.

After
a motorist spotted Simpson inside a white Bronco, police tracked him
down, and this lead to a police chase down Interstate 405, which
ended up being highly televised. It even interrupted the 1994 NBA
finals! It was big news. But if you thought that was the end of it,
think again.

Jury
selection began in the O.J. Simpson murder trial in October 1994,
with the 12-member jury confirmed by November 1994. Opening
statements began on January 24, 1995, where prosecutors intended to
prove that O.J. Simpson did murder Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald
Goldman the night of June 12, 1994.

Now,
I won't go into great detail about the trial itself because I'm sure
that you could find multiple accounts and transcripts detailing
everything from the testimonies of the witnesses to the “if the
glove doesn't fit, you must acquit” statement. And besides, the
actual case isn't the focus of this blog entry. More along the lines
of the aftermath, as well as the impact it had in the world of media.

As
we all know, the trial lasted a grand total of nine months. During
this time, special news reports peppered television during both
daytime and primetime slots. It got to the point where it became
very unpredictable when it came to watching television shows, as one
never knew when a new development in the case would preempt a show.
Soap operas were often a frequent casualty of the O.J. Simpson trial.
At the trial's peak, viewers were lucky if they could watch their
stories three times a week.

On
top of that, the constant barrage of media attention that surrounded
the O.J. Simpson trial were often fodder for late night talk shows.
Kato Kaelin, a witness in the trial soon became a household name
thanks to the talk show hosts poking fun at him every chance they
had. In fact, Jay Leno really had a ball on his talk show poking fun
at the participants in the trial, including having an army of Dancing
Itos. Watch the clip below to see what I mean.

Truth
be told, everyone who was associated with the trial was elevated to
near-celebrity status. After all, watching the trial progressing was
almost like a reality show...only instead of winning a million
dollars, the contestants were battling against each other to either
get their client convicted or acquitted. Johnnie Cochran, Robert
Shapiro, Marcia Clark, Robert Kardashian, Lance Ito, Kato Kaelin,
Mark Fuhrman...all of these people were thrown into the public
spotlight as a result of the high-profile case.

The
trial lasted until October 1995. On October 3, 1995, the
long-awaited verdict had finally been reached. It was 10:00 in the
morning (California time) when jurors came back with the verdict. I
actually remember this moment very well. Although the verdict had
been reached by the time I got out of school that day (my school day
ended at a quarter past two back in ninth grade), the news was
plastered on almost every channel. I think only PBS, YTV, and the
Weather Network were the only three channels that didn't broadcast
the verdict. Would you like to relive that moment? Have a look
below.

You
heard it here folks. Orenthal James Simpson was found NOT GUILTY.

Certainly
the verdict had a huge impact on the world. In particular, within
the United States. The date that the verdict occurred, it was
estimated that over 100 million people tuned in to watch the verdict
live on television...one of the largest viewing audiences ever for a
live television event. Those same people dropped everything that
they were doing to watch the verdict live on television.
Long-distance phone calls reportedly dropped by 58% the day of the
verdict, while activity on the New York Stock Exchange decreased by
41%. Water consumption was also at an all-time low during the hour
the verdict was announced, upon the speculation that people avoided
using the bathroom so that they wouldn't miss the verdict! Even
Domino's Pizza recorded an increase in pizza orders just before the
verdict was read.

As
far as the verdict itself went, reaction was very mixed. A lot of
people believed that O.J. Simpson had gotten away with murder (and
well, I'll admit it...I was one of those people, and still feel this
way eighteen years later). But some never believed for a moment that
O.J. Simpson was capable of murder. Whether you find it unsurprising
or not, many of O.J. Simpson's supporters were predominately black or
Hispanic. In fact, there was a fear among many residents of Los
Angeles that if Simpson was found guilty, it would cause another
spree of rioting, similar to that of the April 29, 1992 riots linked
to the Rodney King trial.

It
seems hard to believe that a murder trial could cause so many people
to drop everything that they were doing to witness, but back in late
1994/early 1995, that's exactly what a lot of people did. It would
seem highly unlikely for another trial to have as much media impact
as the O.J. Simpson murder case. When you stop and think about it,
the entire trial was almost like a soap opera itself. There were
characters of all backgrounds, both representing good and evil, and
the case ended up with an ending that divided people for several
years.

It's
been eighteen years since Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman
lost their lives, and at the end of it all, none of us really know
what exactly happened the night of June 12, 1994. It's entirely
possible that O.J. Simpson could have been innocent the whole time,
but given his recent activities, I highly doubt that. When you
consider that he wrote a book entitled “If I Did It”, which more
or less depicted what would have happened IF he did kill Nicole and
Ron, I don't know...for someone protesting that they were innocent
the whole time, I would think that the last thing I would do is cast
more suspicion on myself. But, again, who knows what went on in
O.J.'s mind at the time.

Though,
O.J. Is not the only one to write books about the trial. Marcia
Clark, Johnnie Cochran, and Mark Fuhrman also wrote books about their
points of view during the most-watched murder trial of the century.
There have even been books that have speculated on other possible
scenarios regarding the murder, including a 2008 book by Mike Gilbert
which accuses O.J.'s son, Jason of committing the crime!

But
here's a little bit of a footnote. If you are one of the ones who
believed that O.J. Simpson got away with murder, you might take some
consolation in the fact that in 1997, O.J. Simpson was ordered to pay
over $33 million in damages to the Goldman family after losing his
wrongful death civil trial. To help with the payments, some of
Simpson's belongings were auctioned off, including his Heisman
trophy. The auction raised half a million dollars, all of which went
to the family of Ronald Goldman.

And
then there was the 2007 robbery case in which Simpson reportedly
entered a hotel room at the Palace Station in Las Vegas, Nevada and
stole sports memorabilia at gunpoint. A couple of days later, after
initially being let go after questioning, Simpson was arrested and
charged with criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, assault, robbery, and
using a deadly weapon. A trial followed suit, and unlike his last
high-profile court case, where he was set free, this time, Simpson
couldn't hide from the truth. He was sentenced to a thirty-three
year prison sentence in 2008, with possibility of parole in 2017, and
as of right now, his home is the Lovelock Correctional Center in
Nevada.

Funny
how life works out. In the end, O.J. Simpson ended up getting away
with murder, but still ended up in jail for an unrelated crime.
Although I'm sure it is of little comfort for the families of Nicole
Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, who ended up losing their lives on
June 12, 1994.

A
double murder in which we may never know what truly happened. Sure
doesn't stop us from speculating though.

1 comment:

Living in California my whole life, I have to tell you it was crazy here during that time. I am a huge football fan, and I loved O.J. Simpson. It bothered me when I heard the news about the domestic violence charges. After the murders and trial, it was obvious he was guilty. His verdict came only a few years after the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, so I know the possiblity of riots was a big concern. I hope that had nothing to do with the decision of the jury. Thankfully, he was found guilty in the wrongful death suit. The families of both vicitims made statements at the time that they felt justified by the fact that he had been found responsible for deaths of Nicole and Ron even though the criminal trial was a joke.